Every year we celebrate Lincoln's Birthday, and to a lesser extent Washington's Birthday, but since this is President's Day I thought I would give you a fact about each of the men who have served our country.
1. George Washington: Was the only president who did not live in Washington D.C.
2. John Adams: Was the first, one-term president, losing to Thomas Jefferson in the election of 1800.
3. Thomas Jefferson: Founder of the University of Virginia
4. James Madison: Appears on the $5000 bill
5. James Monroe: Apart from George Washington and Washington DC, James Monroe is the only U.S. President to have had a country's capital city named after him—that of Monrovia in Liberia which was founded by the American Colonization Society, in 1822, as a haven for freed slaves.
6. John Quincy Adams: He was the first president to have his photograph taken, although not till many years after his presidency
7. Andrew Jackson: During Jackson's Administration, the U.S. Government was, for the first and last time, debt-free.
8. Martin Van Buren: Van Buren was the first President born after the signing of the Declaration of Independence (1782), thus technically making him the first true American President, the first seven Presidents being born British subjects.
9. William Henry Harrison: Was the first, but not only, US president to have no military vessel named after him (what can you expect, he only lived 30 days)
10. John Tyler: First Vice President to assume the role as president, after the previous president had died in office.
11. James Polk: Only Speaker of the House to be elected president.
12. Zachary Taylor: The last President to have served in the War of 1812.
13. Millard Fillmore: An avid reader, Fillmore found the White House void of books, and established the White House Library.
14. Franklin Pierce: Franklin Pierce was arrested for running over a woman while driving his carriage in Washington, DC.
15. James Buchanan: Was the only single president in office.
16. Abraham Lincoln: During the Civil War, telegraph wires were strung to follow the action on the battlefield. But there was no telegraph office in the White House, so Lincoln went across the street to the War Department to get the news.
17. Andrew Johnson: occupied every major non-judicial elected office in the American political system — city councilman, mayor, state representative, state senator, governor, representative, senator, vice-president, and president.
18. Ulysses S. Grant: Grant was known to never use bad language, instead exclaiming "Confound it!" or "Doggone it!" when angry or frustrated.
19. Rutherford B. Hayes: Was the first president to visit the West Coast while in office.
20. James Garfield: Garfield was the first ambidextrous president. He could simultaneously write in Latin with one hand, and Ancient Greek with the other
21. Chester A. Arthur: Before serving as president, Arthur was the Collector of Ports in New York.
22. Grover Cleveland: Was the first police officer to go on to serve as president.
23. Benjamin Harrison: Was the last president to have a beard.
24. Grover Cleveland: The first and only president to serve 2 non-consecutive terms.
25. William McKinley: After his assassination, the Secret Service's job began to also cover protection of the president.
26. Theodore Roosevelt: Became the first American to be awarded a Nobel Prize.
27. William Taft: Was only man to serve both as President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
28. Woodrow Wilson: Was an avid baseball fan, and was the first President to attend a game while in office and throw out the first pitch at a World Series.
29. Warren G. Harding: Was the only President to be elected on his birthday, November 2nd.
30. Calvin Coolidge: Was the first to have his inauguration aired on the radio.
31. Herbert Hoover: Lived for 31 years after his term ended, the longest of any president.
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt: Appointed 9 Supreme Court Justices, the most by any president except Washington, who appointed all 11.
33. Harry Truman: Was the first president to be given a Medicare card.
34. Dwight D. Eisenhower: Was the last president born in the 19th century.
35. John F. Kennedy: Was the first, and only Catholic President.
36. Lyndon B. Johnson: Favorite drink was Fresca, he had two buttons for drinks in his office, Fresca and coffee.
37. Richard Nixon: Was the first President to visit all 50 states.
38. Gerald Ford: Was the only President to be neither elected President or Vice President.
39. Jimmy Carter: Studied nuclear physics at Union College and contributed to the development of the nuclear submarine.
40. Ronald Reagan: Being a member of the Screen Actors Guild, Reagan was the only trade union member elected President.
41. George H. W. Bush: Was the only President to have been CIA Director.
42. Bill Clinton: Was the first President to be a Rhodes Scholar
43. George W. Bush: Was former owner of the Texas Rangers, only President to have once been an owner of a major professional sports team.
